Airport month record

RDUMAY

Raleigh-Durham International in May 2026

Departures: 4,884
Month: May 2026
National, same month: 78.6%
Carriers: 10

Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at RDU, see live FAA status.

RDU in May lands a B+, 3 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,884 flights, of which United Airlines flew 528 at 86.9% on time.

United Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 86.9% on time across 528 flights.

On time

81.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,830 completed departures

Avg delay

67 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.86%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

79.0%

RDU across all twelve months

These figures cover 4,884 departures from Raleigh-Durham International in May 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.

Against the year

May next to RDU's other months

Against RDU's own year, May ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 79.0%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for RDU in May, at 0.86% against 2.28% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 82.4% on time and June 77.2%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

RDU month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	4,907	71.6%	97 min	3.81%	C−
August 2025	4,640	78.7%	82 min	1.34%	B
September 2025	4,484	84.6%	81 min	0.51%	B+
October 2025	4,929	79.0%	67 min	0.63%	B+
November 2025	4,796	80.4%	80 min	2.04%	B
December 2025	4,803	73.5%	76 min	1.71%	C
January 2026	4,163	81.0%	76 min	8.17%	B−
February 2026	3,954	82.1%	76 min	3.69%	B−
March 2026	4,658	77.2%	83 min	2.81%	B
April 2026	4,748	82.4%	70 min	0.63%	B+
May 2026 (this page)	4,884	81.4%	67 min	0.86%	B+
June 2026	4,615	77.2%	84 min	2.08%	B

Departure window

The best time of day to leave RDU in May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,231 flights90.8%
8am–11am784 flights89.7%
11am–2pm869 flights82.0%
2pm–5pm725 flights75.5%
5pm–8pm1,029 flights70.7%
8pm–5am246 flights67.2%

Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.8% of the time, against 67.2% for the overnight window. That is 24 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 1,231 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 86.7% on time and Thursday the weakest at 76.5%. 10 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at RDU in May

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 86.9% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 74.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 763 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at RDU in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Delta Air Lines	1,047	86.1%	59 min	1.05%	A
American Airlines	845	82.1%	86 min	1.07%	B
Southwest Airlines	763	74.3%	52 min	0.13%	C+
Republic Airways	710	83.9%	61 min	1.83%	B
United Airlines	528	86.9%	68 min	0.19%	A+
Frontier Airlines	389	76.5%	100 min	0.26%	B+
JetBlue Airwaysthin sample	248	83.1%	66 min	0.00%	B+
PSA Airlinesthin sample	145	66.7%	63 min	2.76%	C
Envoy Airthin sample	103	76.5%	64 min	0.97%	B+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	93	76.1%	32 min	1.08%	B

The spread between United and Southwest is 13 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 13 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of RDU in May

Routes from RDU in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
RDU to ATL · Atlanta	390	86.8%	71 min	1.03%	A
RDU to ORD · Chicago	374	81.0%	108 min	1.07%	B
RDU to CLT · Charlottethin sample	267	85.0%	59 min	0.00%	A+
RDU to BOS · Bostonthin sample	260	83.0%	64 min	0.38%	B+
RDU to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	247	82.2%	73 min	1.62%	B
RDU to MCO · Orlandothin sample	229	76.3%	76 min	0.44%	B+
RDU to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	207	79.2%	72 min	1.93%	B
RDU to MIA · Miamithin sample	203	77.8%	110 min	0.00%	B+
RDU to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	202	79.9%	41 min	2.97%	B
RDU to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	192	74.3%	46 min	0.00%	C+
RDU to EWR · Newarkthin sample	174	91.9%	59 min	1.15%	A
RDU to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	166	65.6%	54 min	3.61%	C−
RDU to JFK · New Yorkthin sample	163	83.3%	38 min	0.61%	B+
RDU to DEN · Denverthin sample	155	89.0%	63 min	0.65%	A+
RDU to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	149	86.6%	112 min	0.00%	A+
RDU to DTW · Detroitthin sample	121	89.1%	60 min	1.65%	A
RDU to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	118	89.7%	47 min	1.69%	A
RDU to IAD · Washingtonthin sample	112	90.2%	127 min	0.00%	A+
RDU to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	111	85.5%	64 min	0.00%	A+
RDU to TPA · Tampathin sample	110	79.8%	84 min	0.91%	B+
RDU to SEA · Seattlethin sample	93	72.5%	33 min	1.08%	C
RDU to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	87	89.7%	51 min	0.00%	A+
RDU to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	85	76.5%	60 min	0.00%	B+
RDU to MDW · Chicagothin sample	80	67.1%	49 min	0.00%	C+
RDU to IAH · Houstonthin sample	76	86.8%	71 min	0.00%	A+

Delay causes

What held RDU up in May

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 48% of the 60,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.

Late-arriving aircraft
48%
Carrier
27%
National Airspace System
25%
Extreme weather
0%
Security
0%

48% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 60,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 48 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 60,322 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.86%, below the national 0.92% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

5.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from RDU in May

For a May trip through RDU: expect 81.4% on time and 0.86% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Raleigh-Durham International (RDU), the whole year
RDU in July71.6%
RDU in August78.7%
RDU in September84.6%
RDU in October79.0%
RDU in November80.4%
RDU in December73.5%
RDU in January81.0%
RDU in February82.1%
RDU in March77.2%
RDU in April82.4%
RDU in June77.2%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures